Interesting Studies: Probably low carb related in one way or another

AlabasterVerve wrote: »

Blog post by Amy Berger: More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Protein & Gluconeogenesis

Of all the myths and misinformation I wish we could kill, strap to a block of concrete, and push off the side of a boat in very deep, shark-infested waters, the protein = sugar thing is close to the top.

I must disagree. My conclusions are not scientific, but come from anecdotal observations from:
1. Being a type 1 diabetic, testing BG multiple times daily for decades;
2. Using a CGM fairly consistently for many years (not quite 1 decade yet);
3. Discussing the topic with others fitting 1 and sometimes 2 (above) of how protein affects BG;
4. Discussing the topic with those who do not fit either 1 or 2 above, but follow a ketogenic diet; and
5. Eating a standard American diet for most of my life;
6. Switching to moderately low carb in Mar. 2016 and gradually decreasing over several months until now, when I consume a 'zero carb' diet.

From all of my observations, I've found that some of us convert protein to glucose just because excess protein is available. Some of us do not. I haven't yet figured out what is different between those that do and those that do not.

Here is a recent personal (anecdotal) example (this happened last night, but a similar thing happened a couple days ago when I ate the same food in a large quantity):

I ate a large amount (18 oz.) of pork roast. I cooked it myself, added nothing during the cooking process nor after cooking. It was just a chunk of meat, and I will acknowledge it was not "lean" meat.
-About 2 hours later, my BG had risen to nearly 300 mg/dl.
-I took some insulin, ran for 45 min., and lifted weights.
-After the insulin and exercise, my BG had dropped to just below 200 mg/dl. I took some additional insulin to continue to bring it down and went to sleep.
-About 5 hrs. post-meal, I awoke and tested at almost 160 mg/dl. This is still high, so I took another correction dose of insulin.
-At about 12 hours after eating, I awoke this morning to a BG of 290 mg/dl.

How could my BG have risen so sharply so quickly after eating a chunk of meat? Also, how did it rise so much from 5 hrs. to 12 hrs.? It is because excess protein (and possibly some of the fat) converts to glucose... just because it is there, not because I needed it. It takes hours for all of this conversion to occur and some people will tell you they don't have this type of experience, but some of us do.

AlabasterVerve wrote: »

"How could my BG have risen so sharply so quickly after eating a chunk of meat?"

Perhaps the diabetic portion of the blog post may be of interest to you:

If we’re talking about type 1 and type 2 diabetics, it’s a different story.

Take type 1 diabetes:
Type 1 diabetics secrete little to no insulin. That means they have no way of countering the effects of glucagon. (This is why their BG goes so high. It’s glucagon run amok, and I wrote about it here.) So if a T1 diabetic eats a lot of protein in one sitting, they will have a big blood glucose rise. In the absence of insulin, the glucagon secretion induced by protein is going to tell the liver to keep pumping out glucose, nonstop, and maybe also tell skeletal muscle to break down proteins to release amino acids that can be used as fuel or sent to the liver, to be converted into glucose. Adipose tissue (fat cells) will also hemorrhage fatty acids, because glucagon stimulates lipolysis. All around, this is bad news, and it’s why T1 diabetics waste away without insulin pretty much no matter what they eat. Protein stimulating glucagon release is, at least in part, why T1 diabetics have to bolus their insulin to match their protein intake in addition to their carbohydrate intake. (This is what spurred Marty Kendall to start creating his super-extra-awesome insulin index of foods – it was to help his wife, who has T1D, better regulate her BG.)

Ugh. To say I got cheated in life sounds like a gross under-statement.